Many Asian-pacific countries have placed property cooling curbs on their housing and real estate industry as prices climbed rapidly within the past half a decade. Cities such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney, Melbourne, Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore are facing not only space and housing issues but also rapid inflation and increasing property prices.
Aerial view of suburban neighborhood, Wuhan, Hubei, China on 11th March 2016. (Photo by Jie Zhao/Corbis via Getty Images)
The Chinese government has been placing curbs upon curbs on their real estate industry, with perhaps conflicting sentiments as the sector accounts for a large part of the country’s economic growth. But housing prices have been skyrocketing at an alarming rate and for the first time in the past few years, the measures seem to be taking effect.
In Shenzhen, currently the country’s hottest market for new homes, property prices have fallen 0.5 per cent after consecutive dips over the past 4 months. In Shanghai, prices fell by 0.1 per cent, also following a 3-consecutive-month decline. While prices remained unchanged in Beijing, the stabilisation is a start to possible price deflation. News of a possible reduction of land release by more than 3 times that released in 2016 could further reign in price increase.
The price-increase in January was reflected in the smallest number of cities in a year. Home prices have fallen in 20 cities while 45 out of 70 cities saw a gain in prices, down from 46 in December last year. Part of the reason could be the curbs placed not only on buyers but also on banks. Some bank branches in major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou and Chongqing have recently increased mortgage rates for first-time buyers. China’s central bank is likely to have even stricter restrictions on credit and housing loans put in place, in particular targeting developers and households, in order to prevent a property bubble.
